NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q

The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q is a dual-slot, end-of-life professional visualization card built on the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, utilizing the GM204 chip fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It houses 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die, with a transistor density of 13.1M per mm². The card operates with a base clock of 557 MHz and a boost clock of 1178 MHz, and its memory runs at 1253 MHz, translating to 5 Gbps effective. It offers a single Geekbench Vulkan score of 31220, placing it in the 75th percentile of all GPUs. This data positions the card as a surprisingly competitive entry in the mid-to-high range of the benchmark database, despite its age and enterprise-focused design.

Benchmark Performance

The GRID M60-1Q’s benchmark results present a compelling case for its sustained relevance in specific workloads. Its average benchmark score of 31220 places it in the 75th percentile of all GPUs, indicating that it outperforms the majority of graphics cards cataloged in this database. This is a strong showing for a product that is no longer in production, suggesting that its raw compute capabilities remain viable.

Examining the score in isolation, however, only reveals part of the story. The data shows a tight cluster of performance among its nearest rivals, with the M60-1Q holding a marginal edge over some and a slight deficit against others. It is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 and the AMD Radeon RX 6700, while it is 0.6% behind the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000. The most significant delta is a 1.2% lead over the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. These deltas are minuscule, indicating that the GRID M60-1Q delivers performance that is statistically on par with these much newer and ostensibly more powerful cards in the Geekbench Vulkan test.

This near-parity is a surprising result, especially when considering the generational gap. The benchmark results indicate that the M60-1Q’s 4.825 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, derived from its 2048 shading units, is sufficient to keep pace with products that benefit from years of architectural advancements. The 75th percentile ranking is not an anomaly; it is a reflection of the card’s substantial raw processing power. The data suggests that the M60-1Q is not merely a legacy part, but a capable performer whose benchmark scores hold up well against modern competition, making it an intriguing option for tasks that leverage Vulkan compute.

Who Should Consider It

Given its benchmark standing, the GRID M60-1Q is for users whose primary concern is raw compute throughput rather than advanced features or display connectivity. The data shows it competes directly with the Quadro RTX 8000 and GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, cards that are typically aimed at high-end workstations and enthusiasts. Therefore, this card is a logical consideration for virtualized desktop infrastructure or server environments where multiple users require reliable GPU acceleration for compute-intensive tasks, and where the lack of display outputs is not a hindrance.

The card’s 1024 MB of VRAM is its most significant limitation, and this dictates the resolutions and settings at which it can operate effectively. With only 1 GB of memory and a 256-bit bus delivering 160.4 GB/s of bandwidth, the card will struggle with high-resolution textures and large frame buffers. Benchmark results suggest it is a strong compute performer, but this memory capacity means it is not suited for modern gaming at 1080p with high-detail settings, as it would quickly run out of memory. Instead, users should consider it for scenarios where the graphics load is moderate, such as CAD, 2D design, or compute tasks that don't require large datasets to reside in VRAM.

For any application that requires a display output, this card is immediately disqualified, as it has no outputs. This confines its use to headless servers or systems with a separate, secondary GPU for display purposes. The data clearly indicates a specialization: the M60-1Q is a compute engine, and its performance in that domain is what makes it relevant. Its 75th percentile score suggests that for specific, memory-light compute workloads, it can still hold its own, but users must carefully assess their VRAM requirements before considering it.

How It Compares

The benchmark data provides a precise picture of where the GRID M60-1Q stands relative to its closest competitors. The following comparisons are based solely on the Geekbench Vulkan scores and the provided delta percentages.

NVIDIA Quadro M5000: The M60-1Q is a virtual dead heat with the Quadro M5000, edging it out by a mere 0.3%. Both cards share the Maxwell architecture, and the data shows they deliver nearly identical Vulkan compute performance. This suggests that for compute tasks, the two cards are interchangeable from a performance standpoint, with any difference falling well within the margin of error for benchmarking.

AMD Radeon RX 6700: Against AMD’s Radeon RX 6700, the GRID M60-1Q also holds a 0.3% lead. This is a notable result, as the RX 6700 is a much more recent consumer-oriented card. The data implies that the M60-1Q’s compute architecture is efficient enough to rival a modern GPU, despite its age and different architectural lineage. The performance parity here reflects the M60-1Q’s raw compute power.

NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000: The M60-1Q trails the Quadro RTX 8000 by 0.6%. This is the only rival in the list that the M60-1Q does not beat. The RTX 8000 is a high-end professional card with significant advantages in memory and features, yet in this specific Vulkan compute test, its lead over the older M60-1Q is surprisingly narrow. This reinforces the idea that the M60-1Q’s compute capabilities are its primary strength.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti: The data shows the M60-1Q leads the RTX 3070 Ti by 1.2%, the largest delta of the group. This is a remarkable outcome, as the RTX 3070 Ti is a mainstream enthusiast card from a much later generation. The benchmark results indicate that the M60-1Q outperforms it in raw Vulkan compute, although the RTX 3070 Ti has superior memory bandwidth and capacity, which would make it far better suited for gaming and other graphics-intensive tasks.

FAQ

Q: How does the GRID M60-1Q perform compared to the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000?

A: The benchmark data shows the GRID M60-1Q is 0.6% slower than the Quadro RTX 8000 in the Geekbench Vulkan test, making the performance difference nearly negligible.

Q: What is the memory configuration of the GRID M60-1Q?

A: It has 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 160.4 GB/s.

Q: What is the card's performance percentile ranking?

A: The GRID M60-1Q is in the 75th percentile of all GPUs based on its average benchmark score, indicating it outperforms 75% of the cards in the database.

Q: Is this card suitable for a gaming PC with a monitor?

A: No, it has no display outputs, so it cannot be connected directly to a monitor. It is designed for headless compute or virtualized environments.

Q: What is the TDP and power connector requirement for this card?

A: The card has a TDP of 225 W, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and NVIDIA suggests a 550 W power supply for the system.

Q: Which API version is supported for DirectX?

A: The card supports DirectX 12 with feature level 12_1, along with OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Memory Subsystem

The memory subsystem of the GRID M60-1Q is a study in contrasts. It features a 256-bit memory bus, which is a solid width for a professional card, and it is paired with GDDR5 memory running at 5 Gbps effective. This combination yields a memory bandwidth of 160.4 GB/s. However, the total memory capacity is just 1024 MB. This 1 GB frame buffer is the card’s most critical bottleneck, particularly for high-resolution workloads.

The implications of this limited VRAM are clear when considering performance at high resolutions. While the card’s compute throughput, as evidenced by its benchmark scores, is competitive with modern rivals, the 1 GB capacity severely restricts its ability to hold large textures, geometry, and shader data. At 4K resolution, or even 1440p with high-detail settings, the memory would be exhausted quickly, leading to significant performance degradation as data is swapped out. The bandwidth of 160.4 GB/s is adequate for the memory size, but it is not a substitute for capacity.

For the card’s intended use in virtualized environments, this memory limitation means that each virtual machine would receive a very small slice of VRAM, limiting the graphical complexity of the workloads it can handle. The data suggests that the card is best suited for compute tasks where data can be processed in smaller, more manageable chunks that fit within the 1 GB frame buffer. For users with demanding visual workloads, the memory subsystem would be the primary reason to look elsewhere, despite the card's strong raw compute performance.

Power and Cooling

The GRID M60-1Q is a power-hungry component, with a thermal design power (TDP) of 225 W. This is a substantial power draw, particularly for a card that was released in 2015. The cooling solution is a dual-slot design, which is necessary to dissipate the heat generated by this power consumption. The physical card is 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length, making it a standard-size card that should fit in most full-tower cases, though space in smaller chassis may be a concern.

Power delivery requires a single 8-pin power connector. This is a straightforward requirement, though it means the system must have a power supply with the appropriate cable. To accommodate this card and the rest of the system, NVIDIA recommends a power supply with a 550 W rating. This is a reasonable recommendation for a system with a single high-power GPU. Users are advised to ensure their PSU meets this requirement to guarantee stable operation under load. The combination of a 225 W TDP and a 550 W system PSU recommendation indicates that the card draws a significant portion of the system's total power budget, which is an important consideration for multi-GPU server configurations.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The GRID M60-1Q is built on the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, which predates the introduction of dedicated ray tracing and tensor core hardware. The FACT PACK confirms that the card has no RT cores and no tensor cores. This means it lacks the hardware-accelerated ray tracing capabilities found in later NVIDIA architectures. Consequently, it cannot perform real-time ray tracing in the same manner as modern RTX cards, and any ray-traced workloads would have to rely on compute shaders, which would be inefficient.

In terms of API support, the card is well-equipped for its era and even for modern software compatibility. It supports DirectX 12 with feature level 12_1, which provides access to advanced rendering features, though not the full DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set. It also supports OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of professional and compute applications. The card’s feature set is therefore focused on compute and traditional rasterization rather than ray tracing or AI-accelerated tasks. Its high Vulkan benchmark score suggests that its compute capabilities are robust, but users requiring hardware-accelerated ray tracing or AI features would need to consider a different, more modern card.